DON BYRAM
Renaissance Art Photography
The word Renaissance means rebirth. It is a transition from an old way of seeing, thinking, and acting, to a new way.
The period of time called “The Renaissance” was and is proclaimed and derailed as a period where the modern world was born. It is the dividing line between The Middle Ages and the Modern. Or, maybe not. Just depends on who you talk to.
The art of The Renaissance is equally complex and fraught with contradictions as the Western world it visualized. Lots of people up front with the landscapes knowing their place as backgrounds. Arguable, the art was created and paid for by men for other men. Thus lots of breasts with a splatting of penises. Men and long dead Greek Gods had muscles and women were pale skinned and desirable (except for those few cutting heads off). It was definitely a Coming Out party for the human figure, as long as you agreed with those footing the bills.
But, I digress.
This showing of Renaissance Art Photography, is a rebirth in my journey of art photography. I would like to think it is a timely divide between how I traditionally took photos and viewed the process and a new way to visualize the people in my world.
I started with the camera decades ago with film. When real photographers took real cameras and made real images. Or, maybe not. Just depends on who you talk to. I can only speak for myself. I was broke and usually had a roll of 12 exposures to try and make a pretty picture of a girlfriend or fog or waterfall or whatever. I planned what I was doing and put quite a bit of thought into the composition before I pushed the button. Then I waited a week to get the photos back from the drug store, because I was still broke and that was the cheapest way to make the magic happen.
Fast forward through more being broke, different film, cheap digital cameras, phones, processes, careers, and time.
The one aspect that hasn't changed is the thought process of how to compose a picture. I still spend more time looking and trying to feel the image than I do pushing buttons.
I am an introvert by nature and an extrovert by necessity. This means I will spend time with a model or client to understand who they are and why posing is important to them. This is a learning process for both of us. Hopefully, it also leads to an emotionally honest portrait. A blending of technique and truth.
The technical secret sauce of these portraits is a combination of light, lens, composition, conversation, settings, and timing. They generally have very little editing done to them. I'm certainly not opposed to filters and Photoshop, but with the proper forethought, very little is needed. The most interesting and personal aspect to them is they were all taken in the dark. Not a low light room or studio light set up, but a totally dark room. The light source is a single small hand held light sweeping across both the subject and setting.
When I first started experimenting with the process, I was struck by how much the skin tones, shadows, and feel of the portraits reminded me of Renaissance Era portraits. Thus, the name of the technique and a personal reeducation of the Renaissance Era and it's artwork.
It has also struck me how little figurative art has changed. A quick scroll through Instagram reveals lots of breasts; a splattering of penises. Men have muscles and women are desirable (except those cutting off heads). While there has thankfully been a diversification of who creates and consumes the art, it still is driven, quite a bit, by who pays for it.
A special thank you to Mike, owner of Twin City Antique Mall. Quite a few of these were taken there. I appreciate his willingness to stay late and turn the lights off! It really is a photographer's Disneyland for backgrounds.
The word Renaissance means rebirth. It is a transition from an old way of seeing, thinking, and acting, to a new way.
The period of time called “The Renaissance” was and is proclaimed and derailed as a period where the modern world was born. It is the dividing line between The Middle Ages and the Modern. Or, maybe not. Just depends on who you talk to.
The art of The Renaissance is equally complex and fraught with contradictions as the Western world it visualized. Lots of people up front with the landscapes knowing their place as backgrounds. Arguable, the art was created and paid for by men for other men. Thus lots of breasts with a splatting of penises. Men and long dead Greek Gods had muscles and women were pale skinned and desirable (except for those few cutting heads off). It was definitely a Coming Out party for the human figure, as long as you agreed with those footing the bills.
But, I digress.
This showing of Renaissance Art Photography, is a rebirth in my journey of art photography. I would like to think it is a timely divide between how I traditionally took photos and viewed the process and a new way to visualize the people in my world.
I started with the camera decades ago with film. When real photographers took real cameras and made real images. Or, maybe not. Just depends on who you talk to. I can only speak for myself. I was broke and usually had a roll of 12 exposures to try and make a pretty picture of a girlfriend or fog or waterfall or whatever. I planned what I was doing and put quite a bit of thought into the composition before I pushed the button. Then I waited a week to get the photos back from the drug store, because I was still broke and that was the cheapest way to make the magic happen.
Fast forward through more being broke, different film, cheap digital cameras, phones, processes, careers, and time.
The one aspect that hasn't changed is the thought process of how to compose a picture. I still spend more time looking and trying to feel the image than I do pushing buttons.
I am an introvert by nature and an extrovert by necessity. This means I will spend time with a model or client to understand who they are and why posing is important to them. This is a learning process for both of us. Hopefully, it also leads to an emotionally honest portrait. A blending of technique and truth.
The technical secret sauce of these portraits is a combination of light, lens, composition, conversation, settings, and timing. They generally have very little editing done to them. I'm certainly not opposed to filters and Photoshop, but with the proper forethought, very little is needed. The most interesting and personal aspect to them is they were all taken in the dark. Not a low light room or studio light set up, but a totally dark room. The light source is a single small hand held light sweeping across both the subject and setting.
When I first started experimenting with the process, I was struck by how much the skin tones, shadows, and feel of the portraits reminded me of Renaissance Era portraits. Thus, the name of the technique and a personal reeducation of the Renaissance Era and it's artwork.
It has also struck me how little figurative art has changed. A quick scroll through Instagram reveals lots of breasts; a splattering of penises. Men have muscles and women are desirable (except those cutting off heads). While there has thankfully been a diversification of who creates and consumes the art, it still is driven, quite a bit, by who pays for it.
A special thank you to Mike, owner of Twin City Antique Mall. Quite a few of these were taken there. I appreciate his willingness to stay late and turn the lights off! It really is a photographer's Disneyland for backgrounds.